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Your gut is full of bacteria, yeast, and microorganisms that live in your digestive system. Therefore, gut health relates to this microbiome, your digestion, and the absorption of food. Finding ways to balance and improve your gut health is important for your overall health and wellness.
Benefits of a Healthy Gut
Having a healthy gut can seem like a small thing in the grand scheme of your health and wellness. However, from a holistic point of view, your whole self needs to be nurtured physically, mentally and spiritually to maintain complete health.
Gut health has been linked to:
- Immune system
- Autoimmune diseases
- Mood
- Mental health including depression and anxiety
- Skin conditions
- Cholesterol
- Organ Function
With all of these effects on the body, having a healthy gut and balanced microbiome is beneficial for both physical and mental health.
Best Ways to Improve your Gut Health
here are some of the best ways you can improve your gut health using natural remedies and supportive supplements.
1. Take Probiotics
Probiotic supplements are live bacteria that are ingested to help maintain a healthy gut. Taking these supplements can greatly improve your gut’s digestion and absorption of vitamins and food. More research is needed but probiotics have shown to aid weight loss, reduce systemic inflammation, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and boost immune function.
There are so many types of bacteria in our gut and each one does a different job. This is why you will usually find probiotics with various strains all in one supplement.
Our favourite probiotic supplement is Bulk Powders, Complete Probiotic. This probiotic contains 5 strains of good bacteria as well as digestive enzymes.
Digestive enzymes, which are also available at Bulk Powders, Digezyme, naturally occur in the gut to digest and break down food. Therefore, adding more live cultures and enzymes can greatly improve your digestion and gut health with these simple supplements.
I didn’t realise the importance of probiotics and digestive enzymes until I tried these. I noticed a huge difference in digestion and reducing bloating after eating. As each person responds differently to food and probiotics, we recommend trying different strains until one works best for you!
They also have Veganbiotic and Vegan Digestive Enzymes made especially for those on a vegan diet to support a healthy gut.
2. Get Enough Quality Sleep
What you probably don’t know is that your gut health can negatively impact your sleep and cognitive function and vice versa. Poor sleep can reduce the number of good bacteria in your gut and it’s diversity.
Not only does this mean your gut health is not optimal but you are not getting enough sleep or quality sleep. The two together are not a good mix for your health and wellbeing at all.
Therefore, making sure you have enough sleep, usually between 7-9 hours, is important. You also want to make sure you are getting quality sleep too where your mind and body are able to rest. To do this, you might try meditation for sleep, keep to a regular pattern, and avoid stimulants late in the day.
3. Drink More Water
Of course you’ve heard that water has many benefits on skin health, weight loss, flushing out toxins, and supporting your energy. With all of these benefits already out there, it is no wonder that water can also help with your gut health.
Water is proven to help with the digestion and movement of food through the digestive system. Drinking water also doesn’t disturb the bacteria in your gut, therefore, maintaining a healthy environment for your microbiome.
So make sure you are drinking water consistently throughout the day and with meals to improve your gut health and aid digestion.
4. Consume More Fibre
Often, modern diets include more processed and high sugar foods which lower the consumption of healthy, fiberous foods. Sugar and complex carbs can increase the growth of yeast and lead to infections or pain.
Fiber, on the other hand, has shown to improve digestion and help your healthy bacteria thrive, multiply and diversify. Therefore, creating a more balanced and healthier gut.
Try adding more fiber and plant-based food to your diet to improve your gut health and add variation in your nutrition. Changing your diet can completely change your health and wellbeing in many ways.
5. Reduce Stress
Stress can negatively impact your mental wellness, but did you know it can do the same to your gut? Stress can disrupt the normal function of your digestive system and therefore cause damage mentally and physically.
Symptoms such as heartburn, constipation or diarrhea could be caused by stress. It is no wonder when we have such strong mind-body connections.
Therefore, reducing stress levels can improve your gut health and reduce the risk of disease in the future. Participating in meditation, exercise, journaling for mental wellness or just planning ahead to reduce your stress. This will promote your gut to heal and function properly and ultimately improve your gut health.
Stress can be can caused by an imbalance in your life, find out how balanced your life is with our quiz!
Final Thoughts
As research has proved, improving your gut health is highly important for mental and physical health. Thankfully, there are effective ways to do this every day.
Taking probiotic supplements and changing your diet to include more water and plant-based food can have huge benefits on your microbiome, digestion, and the absorption of food. Which ultimately will make you feel healthier in many ways.
This will not only improve your gut health, but it can also help you mentally too. Therefore, taking measures to reduce your stress can help your gut be healthy and your mind be healthy.
Tell us ways you want to improve your gut health in the comments!